All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

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The spear unleashed its true energy, clashing with Li Cunxiao, who was at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm.

Both men exuded an astonishing aura of menace, and the residual effects of their true energy spread far and wide, causing the charging cavalry on the ground to become dazzled.

Li Cunxiao exchanged a few blows with Tuoba Chunhun and found that this kid wasn't a complete waste. After all, he had a good father and must have been learning martial arts since he was a child.

"Not bad, not bad, Tuoba Pusa's son is more capable than Xu Xiao's son."

Li Cunxiao said these words with a smile, indicating that he had plenty of energy to spare, while Tuoba Chunhun was finding it increasingly difficult and was on the verge of collapse.

He wanted to retort, but just as he was about to open his mouth, Li Cunxiao's lance was brought to his lips.

"However, now that you've met Grandpa Li, it seems that Bodhisattva Tuoba will be missing a son from now on."

Li Chang'an watched the war from afar, and his heart gradually calmed down. The ordinary cavalry of the Northern Barbarians were still inferior to the Rouran Iron Cavalry, and could not compare with the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and the Iron Pagoda.

With today's results, Li Chang'an is now confident in his ability to completely defeat the Northern Barbarians.

"Sweet Potato, what's Xu Fengnian's doing?"

Holding the intelligence he had just received, Hongshu said with a somewhat puzzled expression, "Xu Fengnian... has turned around and attacked Hezhou."

After Xu Xiao died, Xu Fengnian did not immediately attack Liangzhou to the west, but instead attacked Hezhou in Liyang to the east.

Li Chang'an was slightly surprised, but he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. The powerful presence he had sensed near the Northern Liang Prince's Mansion last time must have been from Luoyang.

So, Xu Fengnian is awakening the memories and strength from his previous lives.

Therefore, it makes sense that Xu Fengnian temporarily avoided him and turned to bully Li Yang.

Because with the current strength of Northern Liang, there is no possibility of competing with Li Chang'an.

Sweet Potato continued, "Your Highness, King Yan has headed north and has not encountered any significant resistance along the way."

"Secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Tai'an City indicate that many court officials are secretly in contact with Prince Yan."

The fragile Li Yang Dynasty was immediately beset by internal and external troubles with a single wrong decision.

The young eunuchs in Tai'an City didn't care who was emperor, as long as the person on the throne was surnamed Zhao, and as long as the court was still Liyang.

If internal strife cannot be avoided, he hopes it will end soon so that a strong monarch can take the throne and help stabilize the situation in the Li Yang court.

From this perspective, Zhao Bing, the Prince of Yan, was better than Zhao Chun in every aspect, after all, he had fought in wars and knew the hardships of the people.

The Qi cultivators in the Imperial Observatory are similar to the young eunuchs; they are unlikely to contribute to the internal strife of the Liyang Dynasty.

From this perspective, after this battle, the entire Li Yang world will be thrown into complete chaos.

Li Chang'an was originally worried that the Western Shu Road and Qingzhou were not heavily armed and might be attacked by Li Yang, but now it seems that this is no longer possible.

Emperor Zhao Chun of Liyang was already overwhelmed with problems and had no time to send troops to Qingzhou and Xishu. He had to hold off his own brother's massive army first.

After a day of direct combat with the Northern Mang army, Li Cunxiao killed Tuoba Chunhun.

Although Dong Zhuo and Huo Qubing were of similar cultivation levels, Huo Qubing successfully killed the renowned Southern King with the help of the Buddhist supernatural powers of the White-Robed Guanyin.

Seeing that defeat was imminent, General Zhong Shentong immediately sounded the retreat and led his remaining 70,000 to 80,000 troops back to Nanjing, the capital of Northern Mang.

After this battle, a large area of ​​land south of the Northern Mang Rouran and west of Yanjia Lake came into the possession of Li Chang'an.

With the addition of Western Shu and Qingzhou, Li Chang'an's territory has tripled!

Just as Li Chang'an was reorganizing the troops at Yanjiahu Camp and preparing to return to Liangzhou, the Embroidered Uniform Guard delivered another message.

Xu Fengnian gave Youzhou to the Northern Barbarians as a springboard for their counterattack against Li Chang'an. He himself led his army straight to Hezhou and Yongzhou, showing a tendency to occupy the north of Liyang.

"That good-for-nothing gave away his father's land in the blink of an eye."

Li Chang'an cursed, but he had to take the fact seriously; it seemed that a decisive battle with the main force of Northern Mang was imminent.

Even if I don't seek out the Northern Barbarians, the Northern Barbarian Empress will still launch a major attack.

After all, in the Empress's eyes, Li Chang'an was a far greater threat than Xu Fengnian and the Prince of Yan!

Chapter 248 The Battle for the Dragon Throne, Sweet Potato Becomes the Empress!

Liangzhou City.

Zhuge Liang and Gu Dazu sat facing each other in the main hall, while outside the city gate, a large number of refugees who had fled from Youzhou crowded together.

"Kongming, tens of thousands of refugees are too heavy a burden."

"After the Northern Barbarians occupy Youzhou, they will definitely gather troops and attack us while we are resting from our great battle."

"Moreover, who can guarantee that these refugees don't have spies planted by Xu Fengnian? What if they suddenly rebel while we're fighting the Northern Barbarians? How will we deal with that?"

Zhuge Liang was well aware of this principle. Xu Fengnian's sudden abandonment of Youzhou, leaving hundreds of thousands of people to the Northern Barbarians, was indeed a surprise to Zhuge Liang.

“If Your Highness only wants to be a Tang king in the Northwest, just like Xu Xiao back then, and dominate a region, then of course you can ignore these refugees.”

"Isn't Xu Xiao's indulgence of Xu Fengnian and Chu Lushan over the years the best proof of that? To be a local tyrant, all you need to do is let the people submit."

"However, if Your Highness aspires to rule the world, you must win over the hearts of the people. Otherwise, like the Li Yang Dynasty, it will fall apart again in less than twenty years."

Gu Dazu was speechless for a moment. After all, the Southern Tang was just a separatist regime that claimed the title of emperor, and the Hong family emperors were even more indifferent to the suffering of the people.

As the two were talking, the Imperial Guards delivered Li Chang'an's decree: "The decision is entirely up to the strategist."

Accepting so many people is not difficult, but managing so many people well is not easy. If Zhao Dingxiu had proposed such an idea, Li Chang'an would definitely have called him a pedantic scholar.

However, if Zhuge Liang wanted to accept these refugees, he certainly had the ability to handle them well. There is no right or wrong method; the most crucial factor is the people.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, which made his gunshot wound on his face sting, and he immediately stopped smiling.

"General, once these refugees are dealt with, tens of thousands of more troops will come to surrender!"

His thinking was not complicated. Youzhou had been abandoned by Beiliang, and Beimang would not treat the people of Youzhou well. Where could these people escape to?

Would they dare to flee to Xu Fengnian, who had abandoned them once? Certainly not.

If these people, burdened with national and personal grievances, were to defect to Liangzhou, it would be a great help to Li Chang'an.

Youzhou.

The newly appointed King of Beiliang, Xu Fengnian, rebelled against the Liyang court, abandoned Youzhou, and made it a buffer zone between himself and Shazhou, buying time for his rise.

However, Yan Wenluan, the infantry commander guarding Youzhou, rebelled against Xu Fengnian and led his 20,000 veteran soldiers of the Fish Drum Camp to fight to the death to stay in Youzhou.

With his superb skills, Xu Fengnian transferred most of Yan Wenluan's troops, leaving only 20,000 veterans to guard Youzhou alone.

On the city gate tower, Yan Wenluan looked down at the massive, dark mass of Northern Mang troops below. Zhong Shentong had gathered another 200,000 troops, who had come to take over Youzhou as agreed with Xu Fengnian.

Yan Wenluan turned his head to look eastward with a cold gaze, in the direction where the King of Beiliang had left. His eyes were filled with incomprehension and resentment.

"Your Highness, have you seen this? The new prince has left all the people of Youzhou to the Northern Barbarians! This is the Youzhou you have guarded for more than ten years!"

"His Highness said we must prioritize the overall situation. Li Chang'an and the Northern Barbarians are beyond our current capabilities, so we must preserve our strength and buy time!"

"But this old minister can't understand it. What should be done with the hundreds of thousands of people in Youzhou? Should we leave them to the brutal Northern Mang army?"

"Without Liangzhou, and now without Youzhou, does Xu Fengnian still deserve to be the King of Beiliang?!"

Xu Fengnian's prestige in the army was not high to begin with, and with Xu Xiao's sudden death and Xu Fengnian's hasty rise to power, there were quite a few old ministers who were dissatisfied.

Xu Fengnian was focused on the overall situation in Beiliang. Now, whether he confronted Beimang or Shazhou head-on, he would only face certain death. Buying time to develop further was his only way to survive.

This strategy alienated many veteran officials, including Yan Wenluan.

"Fish Drum Battalion, hold Beilao Pass to the death!"

With Yan Wenluan's angry shout, the old soldiers on the city wall were filled with righteous indignation. They were just as indignant as Xu Fengnian for abandoning Youzhou.

Grief, desolation, and anger spread throughout the fortress, but not a single veteran fled. They had been confronting the Northern Barbarians for over a decade, fighting numerous battles, large and small, and had long since become mortal enemies with them.

Zhong Shentong looked at the fortified Beilao Pass from afar and couldn't help but feel angry. Xu Fengnian had promised to give Youzhou to Beimang, but he actually left 20,000 men to defend it.

"Reporting to the General, the King of Beiliang has sent word that Yan Wenluan has rebelled and declared himself emperor, and has already pledged allegiance to Li Chang'an. He is no longer under the command of Beiliang!"

Having lost Dong Zhuo and Tuoba Chunhun, Zhong Shentong, upon hearing the latest intelligence, couldn't help but angrily say, "What do you mean by 'defecting to Li Chang'an'? It's just that they didn't clean up their own mess, yet they make it sound so high and mighty!"

When the Northern Barbarians marched south and occupied Youzhou, they created a buffer zone between Li Chang'an and Xu Fengnian. The Northern Barbarians were not unaware of this.

However, the Northern Barbarians' southward advance must be done step by step. Occupying Youzhou first would be a major step forward, and the Northern Barbarians had no reason to refuse such a great benefit.

The Empress of Northern Mang knew, of course, that Xu Fengnian wanted to use Northern Mang to block Li Chang'an, but the Empress didn't care. She was confident that even if she suffered a minor defeat, Northern Mang still had the strength to eliminate Li Chang'an.

After all, the Northern Mang army numbered one million, while Li Chang'an only had a little over two hundred thousand men.

First, swallow Li Chang'an, and at the same time, let the Li Yang Dynasty fall into internal strife. After completely eliminating Li Chang'an, dealing with the internal strife in the Li Yang Dynasty will be as easy as sweeping away fallen leaves in autumn.

With things having come to this point, Zhong Shentong did not hesitate to order an attack on the city. He knew that Youzhou had been resisting the Northern Barbarians for many years and harbored deep hatred for them. If he did not make an example of Yan Wenluan and eliminate him, he would still encounter a lot of resistance later.

The first step for the Northern Barbarians to march south must be to demonstrate their courage and military might!

"Order the attack on the city!"

Time passed, the setting sun was like blood, and the entire Beilao Pass was almost soaked in blood, with the sounds of fighting and roaring echoing through the sky.

The Northern Liang army, like ants, was an endless, dark mass. They erected siege ladders over the city gates, and the Fish Drum Battalion suffered heavy casualties.

These veterans of Beiliang were brave, but they were facing a Beimang army that outnumbered them tenfold!

These people had all settled down in Youzhou, and their homes were right behind them. They knew the consequences of the city falling, so they had no choice but to fight to the death.

However, the disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves was too great, and in the end, all 20,000-plus men were killed in action, with no one escaping.

Yan Wenluan was struck by dozens of arrows and died on the city wall of Beilao Pass, becoming the last glimmer of hope for Beiliang.